of his
unfinished paper on "Snake Poisons and Their Antidotes." By chance he
pulled out the brief account, written the same morning, of his uncanny
experience during the night. He read it through reflectively.
It was incomplete. A certain mental haziness which he had noted upon
awakening had in some way obscured the facts. His memory of the dream
had been imperfect. Even now, whilst recognizing that some feature of
the experience was missing from his written account, he could not
identify the omission. But one memory arose starkly before him--that
of the cowled man who had stood behind the curtains. It had power to
chill him yet. The old incredulity returned and methodically he
re-examined the contents of some of the table drawers. Ere long,
however, he desisted impatiently.
"What the devil could a penniless doctor have hidden in his desk that
was worth stealing!" he said aloud. "I must avoid cold salmon and
cucumber in future."
He tossed the statement aside and turned to his scientific paper.
There came knock at the door.
"Come in!" snapped Stuart irritably; but the next moment he had turned,
eager-eyed to the servant who had entered.
"Inspector Dunbar has called, sir."
"Oh, all right," said Stuart, repressing another sigh. "Show him in
here."
There entered, shortly, a man of unusual height, a man gaunt and
square both of figure and of face. He wore his clothes and his hair
untidily. He was iron grey and a grim mouth was ill concealed by the
wiry moustache.
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